Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick releases Pro-Life interim charges

On Tuesday, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick released his interim charges for the Senate Health and Human Services Committee for the 84th Legislature. The charges instruct the committee to examine how to reform and resolve the controversial issue of fetal body parts harvesting brought to light by the Center for Medical Progress. “As good citizens,” said Patrick, “it is our job to help protect those that are most vulnerable, including the unborn, foster children, and the elderly.”

In the course of their investigative journalism project probing Planned Parenthood’s criminal engagement in fetal body parts harvesting, the Center for Medical Progress unearthed disturbing revelations about a Planned Parenthood mega abortion mill in Houston where “intact fetal cadavers” are delivered – possibly alive at the time of delivery – to harvest and sell their body parts. A top executive at the Houston Planned Parenthood affiliate admitted that the organization has been involved in fetal body part harvesting in Texas for “many, many years,” and explained that the sale of individual body parts is “all just a matter of line items” in Planned Parenthood’s exorbitant budget.

The Lieutenant Governor’s Pro-Life objectives for the 85th Session of the Texas Legislature also include strengthening adoptions. He hopes Texas can make strides to “improve the long-term success of adoptive placements.” This would help to ensure, among other things, that children do not age out of the foster system without any permanent, adoptive family to call their own. The interim charges also aim to improve the transition of children who do exit the system.

Even though the Texas Legislature does not officially convene again until January of 2017, the Texas Right to Life legislative team has already been researching, meeting, and brainstorming with Pro-Life leaders and elected officials this interim to craft the strongest policies that will immediately save lives and contribute to long term Pro-Life victories. Texas Right to Life’s Legislative Agenda for 2017 includes much more than the issues covered in these interim charges; however, we will work diligently with the Lieutenant Governor and elected officials to examine and craft life-saving policies related to these objectives.